2017 Hillman Prizes: Call for Entries on Now Through January 30

The Sidney Hillman Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2017 Hillman Prizeswhich honor investigative journalism and commentary in the public interest. Winners exemplify reportorial excellence, storytelling skill, and social justice impact. The 2017 prizes will be given for work published or aired in 2016. Our categories are:

Book (nonfiction)

Newspaper Reporting (print or online)

Magazine Reporting (print or online)

Broadcast Journalism (story/series/documentary at least 20 minutes in total package length that aired on television, radio or podcast)

Web Journalism (story/series that appeared online but not in print) Open to blogs, photojournalism, and other multimedia projects as well as text.

Winners will be announced in April 2017. Each winner is awarded travel to New York City to receive a $5,000 prize and a certificate designed by New Yorker cartoonist, Edward Sorel, at our ceremony to be held Tuesday May 9, 2017 at the New York Times Center.

2017 Canadian Hillman Prize Call for Entries On Now!

Photo credit:

If you’re Canadian, you’ll understand why we chose this “Roll Up the Win To Win” illustration, courtesy of Rick Harris, Creative Commons.

The call for entries for the 2017 Canadian Hillman Prizes is on now through January 13, 2017. The Canadian Hillman recognizes excellence in journalism for the common good. The winner will receive $5000 and a trip to New York City for the Hillman Prize awards ceremony in May. There is no fee to enter.

The DEA reconsidering its proposed ban after an outpouring of support for the natural painkiller kratom.

October 7, 2016

Copelyn on South African History, Politics, and Labor

Photo credit:

Lindsay Beyerstein, Creative Commons.

Johnny Copelyn, a former South African labor leader and member of parliament, discussed his new memoir, “Maverick Insider,” in Manhattan on Thursday night. The talk was sponsored by the Sidney Hillman Foundation and hosted by 1199 SEIU. Copelyn was introduced by his longtime friend and colleague Bruce Raynor, the president of the Hillman Foundation.

Copelyn’s memoir covers his 40-year career in the South African labor movement, starting with the first wave of labor radicalism in 1973 when brick-makers in Durbin shocked the nation by successfully agitating for a raise of one Rand a week. Their success sparked a national trend. Eventually, labor unions became second only to churches as institutions for black South Africans agitating for freedom.

The South African labor movement was a key ally of the African National Congress. Copelyn explained that such interconnectedness created complications after South Africa’s first multi-racial democratic elections in 1994. Labor was so closely associated with the ruling party that many labor leaders were also government officials. Copelyn argued that this loss of independence was a problem for South African labor because it put union leaders in the uncomfortable position of defending government policies that their membership didn’t necessarily with. Copelyn argued that labor in South Africa has yet to fully recover from this loss of independence.

Copelyn also discussed the complexities of unions owning and running for-profit businesses, including liquor companies and casinos. The wine served at the talk was supplied by a union-owned South African winery.